I Will Be There For You
by citygirl129
Summary: Danny wants to help Lindsay, but he can only wait until she's ready. DL, post Silent Night. CHAPTER THREE FINALLY UP!
1. Breaking Point

**A/N:** My first fanfic for CSI:NY, first time publishing. Read it, don't read it, love it, hate it, whatever—just review, please. :P

**Pairing: **D/L

**Disclaimer: **Everything belongs to CBS. I don't own these characters. If I did Pam Veasey would be queen of the world and we would have D/L every week.

"Damn it."

Lindsay threw the vic's cell phone on the layout table and stormed out of the processing room.

_I need to get out of here. I need to clear my head. _She stalked down the hallway. Everyone in her line of fire jumped out of the way, not wanting to know what had her seriously pissed. Everyone, that is, except the person stupid enough to try to stop her.

"Whoa, Montana, where's the fire?"

"Get out of my way, Danny."

He sidestepped to block her. "Alls I wanna know is what's got you so pissed."

_Stupid move number two_, Lindsay thought. "It's nothing, okay?" She dodged past him.

"Okay." Danny easily caught up to her, his long strides almost out-pacing her short, furious steps.

_Why does he have to be so tall?_ "Go away, Danny."

"Hey, I'm just tryin' to be a friend, is all. I'm here if you need to vent, okay?"

"I don't need a _friend._ I need space, I need—ugh, I don't know _what_ I need!"

"Lindsay…" Danny grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him.

She struggled against his embrace, tried to push away. But Danny was stronger than she was and succeeded in pulling her into his arms. She felt all her energy drain and she slumped against him.

"Why you gotta be so damn stubborn, Montana?" he said softly into her hair.

Lindsay stifled a sob and buried her head in his shoulder. She clutched his shirt. As much as she wanted to open up to him, she wasn't ready. _I wish I could tell you, Danny. I really do. But I can't. Not yet._

Danny rested his head on Lindsay's. Not for the first time he realized just how perfectly she fit in his arms. But she still wouldn't open up to him.

He knew better than to push her. All he could do was comfort her when she reached her breaking point.


	2. Hurting

**A/N:** Continuing off of Breaking Point. This is my version of the scene that (IMO) _should_ have been at the end of the episode.

Thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad you guys like my writing (so far—who knows, that could change. ).

**Pairing:** D/L. Stupid question.

**Spoilers:** "Silent Night"

**Disclaimer:** Characters belong to CBS. I don't own anything. If I did…well, these stories wouldn't be on They'd be in the episodes.

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"There are some things that time cannot mend…some hurts that go too deep…that have taken hold."

The Lord of the Rings, "The Return of the King"

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Danny held onto the handrail, swaying and moving with the motion of the subway. He picked a spot on the wall and stared at it.

A cute blonde had been glancing at him ever since he got on. A year ago, he might have glanced back, made a move. But not now. Something had changed. _Someone_ had changed _him_.

Lindsay. He hadn't seen her all day, but he'd heard about when she broke down during the autopsy. He'd tried to find her after his shift only to find out she'd already left.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the blonde check him out again. She was nothing if not persistent. But she was no Lindsay.

He flipped his cell phone open and dialed her number. But when her answering machine picked up, he chickened out.

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Lindsay dropped her keys and purse on the kitchen counter. Her answering machine beeped incessantly, but she ignored it. Her headache only persisted more as she saw red. Blood. Her friends, dead…blood everywhere.

_Beep._

Tears sprang to her eyes again. They stung, reminding her how embarrassed she'd been when she broke down in the morgue.

_Beep._

What was going on? Why was she having these flashbacks? She'd become a CSI to stop this from happening to anybody else. Now it was happening to her, in her mind.

_Beep._

She rubbed her eyes. She hadn't realized until now how loud that machine was. She hit the play button.

A beep, and then a click. Nothing.

There was another message. A beep, and then silence…then Danny's voice. _"Hey, uh, Lindsay. It's Danny. Listen, uh…I just…I wanted to let you know that if you wanna talk or somethin', I'm always here for you."_ A pause. _"You don't have to do everything on your own, Monroe."_

Lindsay collapsed on her couch, the tears spilling down her cheeks. Lindsay. He called her Lindsay. He never did that unless he was really worried about her. And he had every reason to be worried. She avoided him whenever possible, couldn't stand to be in the same room with him anymore. It hurt too much. Knowing that he was waiting for her, but that she couldn't give him anything, couldn't tell him _why_ he was waiting.

This was something she _did_ have to do on her own. Even though she wished with all her being it wasn't.


	3. Leaving

**A/N:** I just wanna thank you guys for being so patient. My muse was hibernating for a while. But it's awake now. :P This chapter's Lindsay-centric, my version of what would happen before she leaves for Montana. I have no idea, though, how things work with prosecutors contacting witnesses to testify, or asking for time off when you work at a crime lab, especially for something like this. So bear with me if I did anything incorrectly. :)

**Spoilers: **a little bit of Silent Night

**Disclaimer:** CSI: New York and its characters are the property of CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer. I am in no way affiliated with either of these companies. I only own my imagination, my computer, and the added characters. NOTE: The names of Lindsay's murdered friends are ficticious. They are NOT canon. Any resemblance to any living or other ficticious characters is purely coincidental.

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"Miss Monroe?"

"Yes."

"This is Emma Sheridan. I'm a prosecution attorney for the Bozeman County court in Montana."

Lindsay's throat tightened. Bozeman.

"How can I help you?" she asked, gripping the phone.

"Miss Monroe, we have in our records that you provided a witness statement for the case of the murder of Lucy Matthews, Tina Collins, Amanda Davis, and Mary Andrews."

Her statement. Of course. Did she really think they would have forgotten her, the sole survivor of a quadruple murder? Tears sprang to Lindsay's eyes, and she blinked furiously. "That's right," she said, her voice thick with emotion.

"The prosecution would like you to come and testify in the trial."

"I can't…I don't see how I could be of any help…"

"Ma'am, you were the only witness present. No one else knows exactly what happened."

_My statement was nothing but sobs and hiccups and hysterical ramblings! I hid in a damn closet the whole time because I was scared for my life! The only thing I _know_ that happened is four of my friends were slaughtered and I wasn't, and to this day I still don't know why._

Lindsay cleared her throat. "Ms. Sheridan, I live all the way out in New York, I don't know if I could…"

"My office would be more than willing to pay for your airfare. Please, Miss Monroe, your testimony is essential to this case."

Lindsay sighed. "I'll talk with my supervisor. When does the trial start?"

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Lindsay knocked on the doorframe of Mac's office. "Mac, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Mac looked up from his computer. "Sure, Lindsay, come in." He closed a case file next to his keyboard. "How are you holding up?"

Lindsay shoved her hands into her jacket pockets and looked down. "Um…I'm okay. Actually, that's what I needed to talk to you about."

"Go ahead."

"I got a call from a prosecution attorney in Bozeman. They want me to…they want me to testify in the case of the murder of my friends. I'd like a few weeks off to go to Montana."

Mac nodded. "I'm sure that can be arranged. But are _you_ sure you're okay with this? Confronting your past can be hard, Lindsay."

Lindsay nodded. "I know." She took a deep breath. "This is something I have to do, Mac."

"All right. I'll arrange for you to have some personal time off."

"Thank you."

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Lindsay hit the light switch and the office she shared with Danny went dark, except for the pale streetlights from several stories below outside. Her coat draped over her arm, she turned over a folded piece of paper in her hand. She stared at Danny's name, which she had scribbled on one side.

She knew she couldn't talk to him right now. If she came anywhere near having to tell him she was leaving, she'd start bawling like a little kid. But simply leaving a note on his desk seemed cowardly—like she was too scared to face him.

But she was, wasn't she?

She glanced over at her desk and caught a glimpse of the picture frame. It was a photo of the whole team at Flack's "welcome back" party six months ago. They had all been scrambling to get in the shot before the auto-flash went off. Lindsay had tripped and almost fell, grabbing for the closest person—Danny. He had caught her and the flash went off just as they were both laughing. It was Lindsay's favorite photo.

Lindsay grabbed a pen and scribbled a P.S. at the end of her note. She placed the re-folded note and the team picture on Danny's keyboard, then left without looking back.

But as she walked down the quiet hallways, her last-minute note echoed in her head.

_I know you'll be there to catch me when I fall._

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**A/N:** Well, I hope you all liked it. I promise promise promise there's D/L coming up in the next chapter or so. It's just kind of hard to write D/L when Linds is in Montana, isn't it?

Or is it...? ;)

(cue manaical laughter and flash of lightning and smoke)

POOF! (disappears before enraged readers can hang her off her own cliff)

Oooooh, don't worry, I'll be back. After I get my reviews. :D


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